#Election2019: Omoyele Sowore’s Profile

Tuesday, March 13, 2018 7.00AM / Proshare WebTV Born (February 16, 1971) Omoyele Sowore a blogger,writer,lecturer, human rightsactivist and public commentator on national issues is an indigene ofOndo
State from South-Western Nigeria.He is the founder and CEO of Sahara
Reporters a notable online media platform that has
been credited for high-level political, social andeconomic stories and reports, that have
been described as sometimes controversial.Sahara Reporters has over the years
carried major breaking news stories in the country, especially in the
socio-political scene exposing corrupt practices of government.Since the fourth republic in Nigeria,
Sahara Reporters through the work of Sowore has been a major driver of citizen
journalism in the country.Mr. Sowore studied Geography and Planning at the University of Lagos, and then furthered his studies with a Master’s
Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University, New York, USA.During his undergraduate days in
University of Lagos, Sowore was active in student unionism and was elected
President of the Student Union Government between 1992-1994.In June 1993, he led 2,000 students from
the University of Lagos in the era of Nigeria’s Kleptocracy. In the face of the
agitation, Sowore was arrested, interrogated and beaten up.This did not stop Sowore’s activism and
agitation for a decent education system in the country and he was an active
participant in the June 12, 1993 pro-democracy struggle.During a protest on campus same year
(1993), two students were shot by the Mobile Police but survived after they were rushed to Lagos University of
Teaching Hospital (LUTH).His activism also followed him to his
youth service in
Adamawa State where he was outspoken on critical national issues.For
his vociferous anti – government campaigns, he was harassed, arrested and
detained for about 8 times in various detention centres.
He almost lost his life in the Late Gen Sani Abacha’s military junta. Since that tragic baptism
of fire, Sowore has remained consistent in his struggle to emancipate his
country from the clutches of the racketeers and plunderers.

SaharaReporters, the scion of the Nigerian
establishment and nemesis of the corrupt, was birthed in 2005 but became
operative from 2006. It is supported by grants donated by the Ford Foundation
and Omidyar Foundation. As part of its policy, the medium does not accept
adverts and financial support from the Nigerian government.Omoyele
Sowore represents different things to different people depending on one’s social, economic and political leaning. To the
corrupt politicians, the ruling class and their paid and unpaid apologists,
Sowore is a tool in the hands of the opposition – a wild, unsubstantiated and
indefensible charge that is yet to be proven with cogent and verifiable
evidence. However, to the incorruptible and liberated victims of misrule,
corruption and dictatorship, he represents the audacious candle that brightens
the scars inflicted on the soul of our nation.

The
Sahara Reporters CEO has a strong
followership and base on the social media platforms in the country.

He has come under heavy criticisms and is viewed by some Nigerians as a rabble-rouser, an attention
seeking activist, blackmailer, opposition propagandist, etc. Despite the
criticisms , he remains unperturbed and is also seen by others as the ‘Conscience of the Nigerian Nation. Mr. Sowore also lectures Modern African History at the City
University of New York and Post Colonial African
History at the School of Art, New York.His surprising ambition to contest the 2019 Presidential electionsis borne out
of the burden to give Nigeria visionary, pragmatic, transformational and dynamic leadership. Sowore believes as an activist of
over 2 decades, he has what it takes to drive good governance and unite
Nigeria beyond ethno-religious lines.He is yet to declare the party that he
will join for his ambition, but says he is in close talks with several progressive political parties.